Infinity and Beyond
by AraArahime
Summary: A story of friendship, happiness, growth, and love.
1. The Party

**Note: There is a plot twist here so don't mind it!**

 _I sat silently on the rough, green rug in the living room. I felt like I was sitting on a large, isolated green island. Well, that's what I imagined. I twisted my fox hairpin back and forth between my hands, waiting…waiting for Father to arrive. Father told me he had some important news to discuss. I sat there and waited for what seemed like hours, but was only several minutes until I heard the click and twist of the door and the clunk of very familiar footsteps. I lifted my head to see my father at the door, with a solemn expression on his face. "Daddy!" I shouted as I rushed over to embrace him._

 _Father gave out a slight chuckle and ruffled my hair. "How's my little five year old doing_? _Did I keep you waiting?"_

 _I quickly shook my head no. Father gave out a hearty laugh. "Alright, then." He took a seat on the creamy-colored leather couch and patted his lap, indicating for me to take a seat. I skipped over to him and sat comfortably on his lap. He took the fox hairpin out of my hands and carefully set it in my hair. "So, Ara, do you know why I said I had important news for you?"_

 _"No," I replied._

 _"Actually, the news is actually exciting. I think you will like it, too…well tomorrow; we will be attending Prince Seiker's birthday party in Hamel," he informed me. "All the princes and princesses from other kingdoms will be there. Seiker is a very kind young gentleman. I think you two will be good friends."_

 _"Yay! Friends!" I got off my father's lap and bounced around excitedly._

 _Father laughed. "Well, go get prepared, my princess. We will be staying overnight so ask the maids to go help you pack up, okay?"_

 _"Okay!" I exclaimed and ran off to find a maid. I ran up the stairs and bumped into a purple-haired maid._

 _"Oh dear! Please watch where you are going, Princess Ara!" she gasped._

 _"Oops! I'm sorry," I bowed and then looked up at her. "I need help."_

 _The maid raised her brow in curiosity. "With what?"_

 _"Packing. I'm going to a birthday party tomorrow!" I chirped._

 _She smiled at me. "That's exciting. Are you staying overnight?"_

 _"Yes!" I replied._

 _"Alright, I'll help you pack," she held my hand and walked towards my room. Once we arrived, she got out a suitcase and packed it with my orange pajamas and a pretty sky blue dress. An extra pair of shoes were added to the case._

 _"Thank you for helping me," I bowed to the maid._

 _"Not a problem, young princess," she bowed back and made her way out of my room. I flopped onto my bed and kicked my legs excitedly. I couldn't wait to go meet other princes and princesses. After a while of daydreaming, there was a knock at the door._

 _"Come in!" I shouted._

 _Gentle clicks made their way across the quartz floor to me. "Ara, did your father tell you about the party yet?"_

 _I looked up to see a pair of golden eyes stare into mine. "Yes, mommy. I already packed, too."_

 _"Good girl," she pat my head. "You should go get a goodnight's rest, okay?"_

 _I nodded my head in response and quickly drifted off to sleep._


	2. Fabulous Playdate

_Poke, poke. Something or someone tapped on my shoulder. I groaned and my eyes slowly fluttered open. Aren. It was my older brother. "Good morning, Ara!"_

 _"Good morning, Aren," I rubbed my eyes groggily._

 _"Did you forget what day it was?" he asked me softly._

 _Then it hit upon me that it was Prince Seiker's birthday party today. "Party!" I shouted._

 _"Correct," he grinned. "Now get ready, little sis."_

 _"Okay!" I returned a smile and ran downstairs to the kitchen. Mother and Father were already seated and waiting for me._

 _"Good morning, sweetie," Mother smiled at me._

 _"Good morning, mommy and daddy," I replied. I sat down at the table. Thank goodness I got there on time as the maids brought in our breakfast. The scent of freshly baked bread lingered in the air. We ate our breakfast in silence. As much as I wanted to talk of how excited I was, my family would always hush me and told me to eat faster or we won't arrive at the party on time. So unfair. They were such party-poopers._

 _After we finished breakfast, I took a quick bath in the tub already filled with bubbles. A maid escorted me to my room and helped me get dressed. She put a pale yellow dress with ruffles at the edge on me and tied an orange ribbon around my waist. I tucked my feet into orange flats with ribbons at the ankles. Then my hair was done into a ponytail with a braid wrapped around it. The maid gently tucked my fox hairpin into my braid. "You're all ready, Princess Ara."_

 _"Thank you, and bye-bye!" I waved and bounded down the stairs. Father was dressed in a neat white dress shirt with an orange tie and black pants. Mother stood there elegantly in a simple green dress adorned with golden jewelry. Aren dressed in a classic black tuxedo._

 _"The luggage is in the carriage, sir," a man informed Father._

 _"Alright, thank you very much. Now we shall get going. Come on," Father beckoned us into the carriage. I took a seat next to Aren._

 _"You look very cute today, Ara," he grinned and pat my head gently, being careful not to ruin my hair._

 _I smiled back at him since I had nothing to say. Soon, the carriage started its way to Hamel. Throughout the long trip, my parents were both silent. Aren and I awed at the beautiful scenery and played games like "I Spy." We had a couple of breaks then continued the trip. After many long hours, we arrived in front of a prestigious mansion, palace, whatever people call it. There were beautiful waterfalls nearby, too. "Do you like it, Ara?" Father whispered._

 _"It's very pretty," I bobbed my head and continued gazing at the building ahead._

 _Suddenly a man opened the doors. "Welcome to the party, royal Haan family of Sander!" His voice boomed. It was kind of scary…_

 _"Thank you for having us today," Mother replied and bowed, Aren and I quickly doing the same. "These are my two children, Aren and Ara." She gestured towards us._

 _"It's nice to meet you, sir," I quietly greeted him. Aren also said the same. I lifted my head and saw a boy with blonde hair and ocean blue eyes peeping from behind the man, so I assumed he was the man's son._

 _"You have very polite children. It's wonderful to get to know you as well, Prince Aren and Princess Ara. Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am King Helputt. As you can see behind me is my son, Chung. He is quite kind of shy. Say, Chung why don't you introduce yourself to your new friends?" Helputt stepped aside, revealing Chung. He wore a white dress shirt and blue pants._

 _"Um, hi, I'm Chung. Nice to meet you," he muttered._

 _I stared at him for a moment and quickly glanced at Helputt and my family. They nodded their approval for me to go make a new friend. I slowly approached Chung. "Hi, Chung! I'm Ara!"_

 _"Hi, Ara," he lifted his head._

 _"Um…can you please show me around?" I shyly asked._

 _"Okay, follow me," he smiled and I followed him. Wow. I did not expect him to be that nice. He showed me where the restrooms were and showed me all the rooms at the place. After a long while of walking, we stopped for a break. He gave me a cookie which I gladly accepted and devoured._

 _"Say, do you happen to know a 'Prince Seiker' here?" I asked out of the blue._

 _Chung started laughing. "Silly you, I'm Prince Seiker. But just call me by Chung."_

 _I started laughing too. "Oops, sorry about that, I didn't know. Happy birthday!" I gave him a hug._

 _I let go of him to see his cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink. "Thank you…and what was t-the hug f-for?"_

 _"Birthday hug!" I responded._

 _"I see…um, do you want to continue to look around here? I can show you some really cool places," he offered._

 _"Okay!" I grinned. I followed him until we reached a tall, white gate. He unlocked the gate and beckoned for me to walk in first. I stepped past the gate then he entered after me._

 _He held out his hand and averted his eyes as his cheeks reddened. "Ara, you might get lost here, so hold onto my hand."_

 _"Okay," I slipped my hand into his and he grasped it gently. He led me into a beautiful garden of light blue roses. There was a semi-circle with a stone bench in the center of it. He sat down and patted the seat next to him. I sat down too. "This place is really pretty!"_

 _"Yeah. The gardeners did a pretty good job taking care of the roses. Say, Ara, were you trained to use any weapons?" he asked._

 _"Oh, yeah! I use a spear!" I exclaimed. "How about you, Chung?"_

 _"I use a cannon I named as the 'Destroyer,'" he replied._

 _"Ooh, that's cool!" I commented._

 _"Thanks," he said while rubbing the back of his head. "Do you want to see something?"_

 _"Yes," I responded._

 _"I'm going to climb a tree," he said._

 _"I want to climb too!" I shouted._

 _"Are you sure? I don't think you want to ruin that pretty dress of yours," he informed me. I nearly forgot I was wearing a dress._

 _"It's fine!" I reassured him. He nodded then climbed onto a tree in the corner of the garden. He held his hand out to help me up, which I gladly held onto. He pulled me onto the tree and we sat closely._

 _"Look, Ara," he pointed to several waterfalls in the distance._

 _"Ooh! They're so pretty! Hmm, with this view here we can play a game. Let's play 'I Spy!'" I offered._

 _"Okay, you start first," Chung told me._

 _"Okay… I spy with my little eyes….something silver!" I exclaimed while staring at the object I was looking at in the waterfall._

 _"That's easy! It's that rock in the waterfalls shining in the sunlight!" he chirped._

 _"Aww! You got it right! Your turn!" I laughed._

 _"I spy with my little eyes something very beautiful," he stared at me for several moments then looked away._

 _"That one is easy, too! It's the waterfalls!" I answered._

 _"Wrong. It's something prettier than those waterfalls," he smirked while looking at me again._

 _"Um, the sun?"_

 _"Nope."_

 _"The water!"_

 _"Wrong again."_

 _"Um…" I couldn't think of anything else. Suddenly, the gate behind us creaked open. We both turned around to see Aren. "Hi, Aren!" I waved at him._

 _"I see you two are having fun there, but it's about time for you two to go eat dinner. Ara, you're wearing a dress, you better be careful getting down or Mother will get angry," he told us then quickly left._

 _"Okay, let's get down and we'll do to the dining hall," Chung said as he quickly climbed down the tree. I stayed put with my arms shaking._

 _"Chung? I'm scared to get down!" I whimpered._

 _He stood at the bottom of the tree and opened his arms. "Jump, I'll catch you."_

 _"What if you don't and I die?"_

 _"No you won't die, silly. I'll catch you."_

 _"You promise you'll catch me?"_

 _"I promise I will catch you. Now jump."_

 _I gulped and jumped off the tree with my eyes shut. When I opened my eyes, gentle ocean blue ones stared into mine. Chung had caught me safely and was carrying me bridal style. "Are you okay, Ara?"_

 _I nodded and felt my cheeks turning a bit pink. He finally put me down and we headed to the dining hall._


	3. Goodbye and a Tragedy

_Chung and I headed to the dining hall which was filled with hustling people. Maids, butlers, princes and princesses around our age were there. The parents were seated at the long dining table which was already filled with food. Aren was already seated with my parents and he waved for me to come over. I scurried over to where my family was and a butler pulled out a chair for me to sit down and I took a seat. Delicious platters of mashed potatoes, steak, soup, bread (again?!), pasta, and any foods people could even think of were on the table. We all ate our meals and then ate cake._

 _After that long feast, all the kids were gathered together to play games. I quickly befriended a few kind princesses who were a bit older than me. They toyed with my hair and talked a lot about dresses which I didn't find too fascinating since I wanted to go run off and play._

 _Later that night, a butler showed my family to our separate bedrooms with our luggage already in there. I discovered we were the only family staying overnight, which was quite strange. I took a nice bubble bath and finally hit the hay._

 _I woke up the next morning to a knock at my door. I stood up and opened the door to see Mother standing there. "Ara, get prepared. We're going to go home. By the way, your little friend Chung is waiting for you outside," she giggled._

 _"Aww! We're leaving already? I had so much fun here!" I wailed._

 _"How about we invite Chung on your birthday then?" she asked._

 _"Okay!" I squealed._

 _"Now go get dressed, Ara," she told me._

 _I shut the door and found my suitcase. I changed out of my orange pajamas and put on the pretty sky blue dress the maid packed for me. I slipped my feet into a pair of blue flats and combed my hair. I looked in the mirror and put my hair into a side ponytail with my fox hairpin slid in there to secure it. After dressing up, I opened the door to see Chung waiting for me. He wore a white dress shirt with a navy blue vest and black pants. "Good morning, Chung!"_

 _"Good morning, Ara," he replied. "Um, you're leaving soon so I wanted to give you a little gift so you can remember me…um I mean Hamel."_

 _I gasped. "Really?"_

 _"Yes, now close your eyes," he instructed me. I did as he said and felt something cold dangle around my neck. "Now open your eyes."_

 _I looked down to see a beautiful, shining aquamarine teardrop pendant on a thin silver chain. "It's so pretty! Thank you so much Chung! I promise I will always wear it!" I gave him a tight bear hug in return for the fabulous gift._

 _Chung hugged me back. "You're welcome, Ara."_

 _Aren yelled for me. "Ara, it's time to go!"_

 _"Okay! I'm on my way!" I shouted. "Bye, Chung! See you another time!"_

 _"Bye, Ara," he replied._

 _"One more thing, Chung," I added quickly._

 _"What is it?" he perked._

 _I gently held his palm out and placed an orange gemstone ring from Sander on it. "A gift of our friendship." I grinned. He smiled and then I left._

 _We went on the carriage once again and headed back home._

 _ **Changing to Third Person POV- Author's Note: As I already stated, there will be a plot twist so I will fill you in on a bit of the information you need.**_

 _ **Chung will be two years older than Ara. If you read carefully, Ara was five years old so Chung is 7.**_

 _ **Ara found Eun's fox pin in the same altar as her background story but she does not know about Eun's existence yet.**_

 _ **That's all for now!**_

 __ _Chung and Ara visited each other often and became the closest of friends. Best friends. They were inseparable. But one day, they both experienced a tragedy that separated the duo. Chung's father suddenly went missing. Ara's entire village was massacred by her elder brother, Aren, who now claims himself as Ran, the demon army's general. Chung left his home in Hamel in a search for his father. He finally found his father but discovered that he was taken over by some demonic power. Ara's hairpin finally activated to save her from her own brother. She found out she was now part fox demon and the fox sealed in the hairpin was named Eun. Together, they made a contract that Eun will provide Ara with power to find Aren and Ara will help Eun search for the El shards._

 _The duo was upset to be separated from each other and longed to see each other again. However, they both knew by fate they would meet again someday. Someday…_


	4. Reunion

**Ara: Sakra Devanam**

 _Beep. Beep._ I rolled over and sluggishly slapped my hand onto the drawer beside my bed. Yes, routine. I knew my alarm would go off every day, except for weekends. I felt around until I felt something smooth and cold. It was my phone. I grabbed it, and curled back onto my bed. With a single tap, the alarm turned off. 6:30 AM. School started at 8 AM so I had plenty of time to prepare. Today was also the first day of school. I sat up in bed, stretched, and turned towards the edge of the bed. I slowly got up and my feet met with the cold floor. I made my way to the window and opened it to see the sun already up and shining. I sighed. It was just another day. But today was a beautiful day. Hopefully something good will happen.

It was typical for my mindset to think positive. I mean after what happened 11 years ago, it was hard to not get depressed. Aren was still missing, and I was working hard in school to find out how to restore him, with the help of Eun. But today just felt…different. For once I felt like something good would happen today. I fiddled with the pendant on the chain hanging around my neck. A gift from Chung… That always gave me the hope I needed to move on with life.

I walked away from the glorious sunshine and took a quick shower. I dressed into my school uniform which consisted of a white button up shirt, a tan cardigan, a black pleated skirt, and black thigh length socks with black designer heels. I did my hair in its usual style (SD style) with my fox hairpin. To be honest, I actually own a lot of different school uniforms. The school allowed us to purchase many designs…including those cute sailor uniforms! Well I will wear those another time. I think I will like this school. I mean I already like it because of the uniforms. I hope everything else is great, too.

I'm looking forward to many new things. Eun said I should go make some new friends. Some community service would be great too! Time was running out. I really needed to eat a quick breakfast before I go to school. I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a cookie and ate it. I made sure to bring some money so I could buy lunch later. But here's the thing. I'm supposed to keep my identity a secret. I couldn't let anyone know I was the last survivor of the Haan family **and** the princess of Sander. Luckily, I think no one knew about the incident years ago. It was quite a complicated situation. People will not understand why a princess is living in a simple apartment. It's quite ridiculous.

I stepped outside, locked the door, and tucked my apartment keys safely into my backpack. Then I started walking to school. Velder Private Academy, I believe. It was a wealthy, prestigious academy that was extremely difficult to get into. I mean there are academies that are even harder to get into than this one, but still, it was difficult! After I walked about one block, I saw the school up ahead with students bustling into the gates. I guess everyone likes getting to school early on the first day…well no surprise there. I approached the gate timidly and looked around my surroundings. Okay. First, I needed to get to my locker. I walked around to the main building and I saw some students laughing and chattering amongst themselves. To be honest, I was a bit jealous. Everyone knew each other already, except for me. Oh well, I was new anyways.

I walked and walked, then turned into a corner. I felt a sharp pain as I accidentally bumped into someone. I lifted my head to see a purple haired girl frowning at me. I swiftly bowed down "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" I continued apologizing frantically.

The girl's expression relaxed. "Hey, it's no problem. Just watch where you're going next time. This place can be a bit confusing sometimes, you know? By the way, name's Aisha."

"Oh, hi Aisha! I'm Ara!" I chirped.

"Ara, huh? Hmm…your name kind of reminds me of something several years ago…but I can't remember what," she responded.

Uh oh. This wasn't good. I don't need anyone getting onto my case. So I tilted my head. "What are you talking about?"

"Never mind what I just said. So I'll see you around, Ara," she waved at me and left. I screamed internally. I made my first friend.

'Eun! I made my first friend!' I spoke to Eun in my head.

' _That's great to hear, dear child. But be careful what you say about yourself. We don't want anyone finding out who you really are, now, do we?' Eun replied._

'Right.'

The bell finally rang, signaling that classes were starting. I looked for my classroom as the hallway filled up with students rushing in every direction. I found my classroom quickly, A-1. The teacher was already there, smiling at my arrival. I bowed and mouthed a hello to the teacher. The teacher smiled in approval. "Hello, I am Ms. Ariel. But you can just call me Ariel, which would be great. What's your name, sweetie?"

"I'm Ara! But I'm actually a new student here," I told her.

"Oh! Welcome to Velder Private Academy, Ara! Please stand up here with me and wait for the rest of the students to enter the classroom so you can introduce yourself," Ariel suggested. Wow. This school was extremely welcoming. I already liked it. Students scurried into the classroom and sat down in their seats, which they already knew about. The desks were long and could fit about two students each table. My gaze shifted around the room and rested on a familiar face. Aisha! She noticed my gaze and smiled at me while sending a small wave. A boy with red hair sat down next to her and winked at me. I heard the room silence. "Welcome back to school, students! Today we have a new student! And now if you could please introduce yourself," she gave my shoulder a quick squeeze.

I took a deep breath and bowed to the class. It may seem a bit weird to them but it's a habit. "Hello, everyone! I'm Ara and I look forward to working with you this year!" After my short introduction, I gave the entire class my killer adorable smile (well according to Aren). Instantly I heard the entire class start whispering things like "Wow! She's so adorable." "Aww! I want to hug her!" "Is she single?" "Why does she seem so familiar?"

"Okay, Ara, you can go sit in the back over there, and you will be Chung's partner," Ariel pointed to my seat.

Instantly, I froze in place and my eyes met with Chung's. Chung? Really? Was it really him? My Chung? I saw his jaw drop as I slowly approached my seat and the girls' whispering started increasing. "Chung? Is that really you? Do you remember me?"

"Ara….I can't believe it…it's been so long. It's really me, and of course, how could I ever forget my BFF?" he slowly responded.

I sat down next to him, ignoring the fact we were now in class and that the entire class was looking at us. Even the teacher was silent. "You're still wearing that pendant I gave to you a while back," he whispered.

"And I see you're wearing the ring I gave you," I pointed at the glowing orange ring on his right index finger. We smiled at each other for a moment.

"Ahem, I'd hate to interrupt your intimate moment, but you can save the chit-chat for later. I have lots of things to go over right now," Ariel cut our talk.

"We'll talk later after class," Chung whispered quickly then I nodded. I don't think I could contain myself anymore. It was too exciting to be back with my BFF and….goodness gracious. I don't know why I'm thinking this but Chung looks so handsome….

 **Woo! End of this chappie.**

 **And character classes? You've been waiting for it. You already know Ara is Sakra Devanam but here are the rest. (BTW, I'll list their classes as I mention each character in each chapter.)**

 **Elsword: Infinity Sword**

 **Aisha: Elemental Master**

 **Chung: Tactical Trooper**

 **THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. UNTIL NEXT TIME!**


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